Antoine Bailly (p), Lay Gibson

Regional Science has developed as a rigorous science with a strong foundation in economics and geography. There is no apparent reason for regional science to seek an entirely new orientation but there is an argument for it to expand its horizons and reach by exploring opportunities for incorporating other disciplines. The idea here is not to dramatically shift the focus of regional science but rather to encouraging the incorporation of new content and to expand the participant base by scientists and scholars who benefit from incorporating their fields with the approaches offered by regional science. The potential rewards are substantial but there are risks too. One obvious reward for disciplines and professional fields that elect to work within a regional science framework include viewing problems through a new lens. The risks might include the dilution of the distinctiveness of the regional science approach as it seems to try to be all things to all people. This paper explores potentials to expand the content of regional science without disturbing its established character. And it discusses the need to minimize risks to the content while gathering the benefits of expanding the discipline into new content areas.